As part of our rowing program for female rowers that is running throughout the summer, we pulled together 4 W.4+ crews for Peterborough summer regatta. Unfortunately, our W.IM3.8+ entry was rejected due to insufficient entries for the event. Our uber-composite would have consisted of rowers from five different colleges. However, we didn’t get disheartened.

We arrived at Peterborough on Friday evening with a trailer full of boats. Peterborough summer regatta takes place over two days. The atmosphere at the regatta is always great and you get to meet people from all over the country (or at least places within two hours driving distance). We made some new friends from Nottingham, for example!

On day one all crews race over a 1km course. On that day, we entered two different crews. Our W.IM3.4+ consisted of current boat club captain Stella Lempidaki, Liz Dzeng from King’s, Claire Raisen from Darwin, Laura Schuhmacher from Peterhouse and cox Lily Chan from Wolfson. We raced against 3 other crews in the first heat, taking third place missing out on the final by ¾ length. It turns out our crew was faster than the fastest crew in the second heat by seven seconds.

 

On the second race of the day, our novice crew, consisting of ex-Clare overall captain Chrysoula Litina, current women’s captain at Clare, Edith Ross, the overall captain at Hughes Hall, Sally Mole and Tracey Hurell, one of our most promising novices from last year at Lucy, and Clare cox Jordan Sandberg came second in their heat and managed to get into the event final! A few hours later, in what turned out to be an impressive and hard fought race, they missed out on pots by a single stroke or as the regatta officials printed out on the board, by 0.2 of a second. Even so, we were so proud of our achievements. Our crews had only come together the week before the races.

 

 

The second day was very much in the same spirit. After relaxing at the pub the day before and a good night’s sleep, we had a few races in front of

us. The second day at Peterborough is all about sprints, in the form of 500m races. Our first heat was at 11 in the morning. We raced a W.IM3.4+ with yet again another line-up. Stella was at stroke this time, Chrysa at 3, Laura at 2 and Edith at bow and cox Jordan. As we were a composite crew, we were all allowed to wear our different colour onesies, making us one of the fanciest looking crews on the lake! We won our heat beating amongst others the crew that beat our novice crew the day before and were now an IM3 crew. That felt really good (sorry Cantabs). Our final came a few hours later. We had an even better race, on our second “outing” as a crew and beat the Cantabs crew again, this time by more than half a length over the 500m. However, a very strong and experienced Chesterton crew managed to win the race with not-that-big a margin (again half a length).

Our final race of the day, was meant to be a masters’ A race but due to insufficient entries, we were shifted into the IM2.4+ category. Punching well above our weight, Stella (str), Chrysa (3), Laura (2), Tracey (bow), Jordan (cox) raced in this category and managed to come third in the straight final with 1sec difference from the 2nd crew.
Overall, we might have not managed to win pots, but we have come back from Peterborough having gained valuable racing experience, having made our friendship with each other stronger, having made new friends and having had a great time in what was an amazing weekend with lovely weather (which means onesie tanlines as well!)! Thank you to everyone who took part!

by Stella Lempidaki

Day 1

W2 kicked off HHLCCBC’s May Bumps Campaign racing in the 4th Division chasing Murray Edwards W3. They gained on them quickly and got the first bump of the week before First Post Corner!

Starting in position 16 by the lock, W1 began their campaign chasing Clare W2. Gaining on them from the start, W1 caught them quickly bumping under the motorway bridge.

 

 

 

Day 2:
The W2 girls had another quick race, gaining on Sidney Sussex W2 from the start and bumping them on First Post Corner!

Queen’s W2 bumped out ahead of W1 early on, leaving us to chase the over bump on Robinson. We had closed the gap down to 2 or so boat lengths when a bump on Grassy corner and some badly positioned crews impeded Robinson who stopped and were given a technical row over. As our W1 approached Grassy we were given some mixed instructions by the marshals who couldn’t decide whether to make us stop or not. However, it resulted in a row over for W1.

 

Day 3:
Now in position 2, W2 had their sights set on bumping Clare Hall and becoming the sandwich boat with the possibility of bumping up into division 3. Just before Ditton corner they did just that, bumping Clare Hall down to 2nd position. As the sandwich boat in division 3, W2 rowed over after Fitzwilliam W2 bumped out ahead of them.

Rallied up from the unfortunate situation that occurred on Thursday, W1 were ready to go out and show that they deserved to be higher in the Bumps rankings! It took 59 seconds for us to bump Wolfson W1 and it was fantastic that Dame Veronica was there to witness it!

 

Day 4:
W2 were now in the 1st position in division 4 meaning they would have to row over to be sandwich boat again in division 3. Not having another crew to chase makes rowing 2km more challenging and unfortunately Clare Hall managed to catch us outside the Plough. However, it was a really strong row from W2 and they achieved three bumps and moved up 2 places overall which is a fantastic achievement.

W1 were chasing the bump on Queen’s W2 who had got away on Day 2 by bumping Wolfson. This time they were not so lucky and we were able to catch them just beyond the motorway bridge less than 2 minutes into the race. Overall, W1 moved up three places and will start 13th in division 2 next Mays. We are quickly working our way up to where we should be, amongst the first boats towards the top of division 2, and hopefully in the future we’ll be able to break into the first division.

 

 

It has really been an absolutely fantastic term and year for the whole Club. Congratulations to everyone who competed and a massive thank you to all those who came to cheer us on, those who helped with Bank partying the crews and of course the coaches. We are sorry to lose so many wonderful rowers this year but we wish all those leaving all the best and we hope to see you all at the next Boat Club Dinner!

 

This year we entered both W1 and W2 into Champs Eights: a 1450m head race on the Cam hosted by Champion of the Thames Rowing Club. With the return of the Cambridge University Women’s Boat Club Rowers Izzy Vyvyan (who competed in Blondie this year) and Peta Blundell, there have been a few changes to both the W1 and W2 crews and this was the first chance to see how these new line ups would perform in a race.

After a strong start and plenty of power 10’s towards the finish line, W2 raced to an impressive third place in their division (Mays 4^th division) with a time of 6 minutes 22 seconds, beating boats that they will be chasing during May Bumps such as Murray Edwards W3 and Clare Hall W1.

After winning the May’s 3^rd division last year, W1 were nervous about competing in the division above this year (Mays 2^nd division). However, prize tankards were collected as they completed the course in 5 minutes and 33 seconds winning their division by nearly 20 seconds. They finished 5^th overall, beating 6 1^st division crews, and were only 9 seconds off the fastest women’s time.

 

 

On Saturday 15^th March, the 75^th Women’s Eights Head of the River Race (or WEHoRR) took place on the Tideway of the River Thames from Mortlake to Putney. The course is the same 6.8km or 4 and a quarter mile Championship Course of the Thames that has been made famous by  the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race (although they race it the other way around from Putney to Mortlake). Approximately 300 crews from around the country (and even some international crews) took part in WEHoRR including a Team GB composite crew which included olympic medal winners Katherine Grainger, Heather Stanning and Helen Glover.

For many of us in W1, it was our first time on the Tideway, so our first experience of possibly choppy waters and waves, but boating from Sons of the Thames gave us time to adapt to the river conditions while rowing to the start line. This eased our nerves and put us in a positive mind-set prior to the race. We had a powerful start and settled at a controlled rate of 32 and for the first kilometre or so the weather was kind to us and conditions were fairly calm. After holding off Worcester RC they began to overtake us but for the entirety of the race we never let them get too far away. There were no other boats in sight behind us, so we had managed to push away from the crews behind. There were parts of the course where there were very strong winds and the water became a little choppy but the team pushed through it, with motivating calls from cox Gemma, and focused on each stroke pushing us closer to the finish line. Gemma had set out and executed a detailed race plan and steered brilliantly throughout the whole course.

We completed the race in a time of 23 minutes and 16 seconds placing us 147^th and in the top half of the 300 crews that entered. We were the 6^th fastest Cambridge College at WEHoRR beating Sidney Sussex, Churchill, Caius, King’s, and Catz.

Rowing on the tideway was a great experience for the whole crew. We and our coach, Hannah Spry, were all really happy with our performance and the result. We look forward to seeing what results we can achieve in the races during Easter term.

 by Jessica Phillips 

Day One:

The first race of the competition for Lucy/Hughes was the women’s third division which is where, in position 11, our W2 boat started their campaign. For all the rowers in W2 (and a couple in W1) it was their first Bumps experience so there was an abundance of nervous excitement for this very unique series of races. At 1:20pm on Wednesday the start cannon was fired and W2 set off chasing Darwin W2 and trying to avoid being caught by Jesus W3.

They got a really good start and maintained the 1 and 1/2 boat lengths between them and the crew infront. Ahead of them, Darwin quickly bumped the crew infront of them and boat boats just managed to get out of the way as W2 came through still being pursued by Jesus. Jesus then crashed into the bank under the motorway bridge so Lucy/Hughes pulled away. They were making steady progress on the crew that started 2 boat ahead but these crews also bumped out. Cox, Marjun, kept putting in bursts of power strokes to make sure Jesus could’t catch up. As they approached Plough reach, crews were visible ahead. The girls powered through the last corners and despite making up ground on the crews they didn’t manage to catch them before the finish. So on the first day the girls managed to row over.

After being deafened by the cannon in our starting position under the bridge, W1 had a good start and quickly gained on Christ’s W2. They began to pull away again slightly but we reined them back in and managed to successfully bumps them at First post corner, about 500m into the course.

Day Two:

W2 had an impressive day of racing bumping Clare Hall W1 within the first few hundred meters of the race meaning there was again no threat from Jesus W3 behind them. This was the girl’s first bump of week and their first experience of greenery!

 

W1 were quick off the start after a few issues with the bung and the water outlet near our station. We gained half a length on Fitzwilliam but remained at that distance away for a while. They were catching up on Homerton fast and nearly caught them when Fitzwilliam caught a crab and we powered around the corner overtaking them, thanks to some good reactive coxing from Gemma and directing from coach Hannah on the bank. We were therefore awarded the bump, although I don’t think any of the rowers realised this until after we’d been told to stop and pull in!

 

 

Day Three:
W2 was back chasing Darwin W2 on day three. W2 didn’t let Darwin get away easily but Darwin started to pull away and bumped Murray Edwards W3 leaving Lucy/Hughes to chase St Catharine’s who started three positions infront. After a strong row they gained some distance and were gaining on them coming around Grassy corner but couldn’t quite catch them before the end of the course. But it was another impressive row over from the crew.

W1 quickly started to gain on Homerton. However, infront of Homerton, Selwyn rowed straight into the bank allowing Homerton to almost immediately bump them. This meant that W1 were chasing Magdalene for the over bump. We were steadily gaining but they also bumped out. This meant that W1 also rowed over on the third day of racing.

Day Four:
Day four marked the final day of this year’s Lent Bumps.

W2 managed to bump Murray Edwards W3 meaning that they moved up two places overall and finished the division in 9th position, so a very successful Lent bumps for W2. Especially since it’s the first time since 2012 that we have had a second boat in the contest.

W1 rowed over on the final day after Selwyn bumped out ahead of us. We were very close to getting the over bump on King’s but it wasn’t to be but it was a strong performance from the crew. W1 finished in 5th position in division 2, well and truly amongst the first boats.

Overall, it was a very successful Lent Bumps for the Lucy/Hughes team with each crew moving up two positions (and neither crew experiencing getting bumped!). Congratulations to the whole team, bring on May Bumps!

 

 

 

 

Thank you to Lizzy Moore and Ellen Kendall for their reports on how W2’s races went as I couldn’t be there myself and thank you to everyone who helped out by bank partying and marshalling!

by Jessica Philips